Santaquin, Utah – Batchelor died at about 10:40 p.m. Sunday after police say he emerged from his home with his shotgun in hand, moving toward SWAT officers threateningly. Despite repeated commands to drop his weapon, said Santaquin police chief Dennis Howard, Batchelor continued toward police until he was shot twice by two officers. Howard said officers had non-lethal weapons available, but no time to use them.

“They have no other options,” he said Monday. “He was given commands to drop the weapon, and he didn’t. He just continued to advance.”

Barrowman said the scene family members saw Sunday night was not the same one they have heard reported by the media. Batchelor was not a man who had numerous encounters with law enforcement, she said. He was involved in two incidents in his life, both of which he understood were mistakes and he learned from them.

Batchelor was having a difficult time Sunday and spoke with his sister, Dena Ekins, asking her how he could cope with problems he was having, including a divorce.

“At no time did Dena ever think that Mike was at a point of no return, or she never would have never let him leave that day,” Barrowman said.

Batchelor later argued with his wife, who left with their three young sons for her mother’s house. At 8:15 p.m., he sent a text to Ekins, who went to his home, found the doors and windows locked and heard a gunshot. She then called 911 to get help for her brother, but responding officers physically removed her from the property without asking who she was, Barrowman said.

“She just wanted them to help,” Barrowman said.

The Utah County SWAT team was called in after responding Santaquin officers entered the home to help what they thought was an injured Batchelor, only to hear him load a round in his shotgun and tell them to leave, Howard said. While SWAT members tried to contact Batchelor, Howard said he refused to speak with them. More on Daily Herald

Roy, Utah – Damon Lee Weems died early this morning after he opened fire on officers in his living room and they shot back. The officers weren’t hurt but are on paid administrative leave while an investigation is completed.

The Roy police chief is confident that the investigation will find his officers were simply defending themselves when they shot and killed Weems.

Chief Greg Whinham, with the Roy Police Department, said, “The phone was apparently set down inside the house. We could hear crying and screaming inside the house.”

When they arrived they found Weems’ mother and son, who told officers Weems was in another part of the apartment with a gun.

“We tried to have communication with him, and he fired a round through the door, through the closed door into the hallway,” Whinham said. More on KSL.com

They were evacuating the grandmother and son when another shot was fired. Then Weems entered the living room, armed with a shotgun.

“There was an exchange of gunfire inside the living quarters between the suspect and the officers,” Whinham said.

Weeems died at the scene.

He had a lengthy criminal past, including drug, weapons and assault charges. He’d been released from prison last year, and neighbors say he was changing his life, working long hours at a dog food packaging plant and spending time with his son.